Saturday, September 8, 2007

The California State Senate created the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice to review the causes of wrongful conviction and wrongful execution in California. The Commission has issued three interim reports recommending legislative changes to prevent the most common causes of wrongful conviction in California: mistaken eyewitness identification, false confessions and the use of jailhouse informants.

Three bills have been introduced to implement the Commission's recommended reforms:

Senate Bill 511 (Alquist) will require the electronic recording of police interrogation in cases involving homicides and other serious felonies.

Senate Bill 756 (Ridley-Thomas) will require the appointment of a task force to draft guidelines for the conduct of police line-ups and photo arrays to increase the accuracy of eyewitness identifications.

Senate Bill 609 (Romero) will require the corroboration of testimony by jailhouse informants.

The California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice'a group of law enforcement officers, prosecutors and defense attorneys, has recommended all three reforms. These reforms will help protect the innocent and make sure the guilty are convicted.

Urge the Governor to support these bills.

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